Empire State of Mind

Empire State of Mind

There were not many other “highlights' of my racing trip back East in 2004. The track event at Watkins Glen was badly mismanaged and due to an on-the-fly schedule change whose announcement did not reach the “back 40” of the paddock where I was pitted, I never heard it and wound up only running a practice session on Friday. To make matters worse, Sherri had flown back to New York and, with her cousins, had driven all the way to the north end of the state to watch and be with me.

But there were at least three compensations. Her cousins graciously gave up their own motel room and moved in with their kids, who had come with them, so Sherri and I could be together. My first night in 23 in a bed other than in the camper. I noted:

“Standing in a real bathtub and just letting the hot shower water run was heaven.”

The second compensation that weekend was the “Street Festival” which included a car show on the main drag in Watkins Glen (Franklin Street) and what turned out to be a very enthusiastic two lap escorted tour on the original street course used from 1948 to 1952 (see “The Long and Open Road).

The Thrill of a Lifetime
At the Old Stone Bridge
Original Watkins Glen Street Course
A Return to the Car's History

I was a bit stunned by all the attention the Siata got on display. Most comments were that it was by far the most beautiful car there. But this SVRA event seemed to have a “run what ya brung” philosophy and, to be generous, most of the cars were very uninteresting and poorly prepared. But two other things which happened at the display were even more exciting.

I overheard an older gentleman talking with someone I assumed was his son, saying that the car had run at Sebring. Although that information was known to John deBoar and Ernie and was published in John's “Italian Car Registry,' and while it also was supplied on my entry forms for races, it was highly unlikely, particularly back East, that someone would know that. When I asked him who he was, he explained he was Otto Linton, and had sold the car to Tom Scatchard in 1952!

Otto was pretty famous in early post WWII racing circles. In addition to distributing and selling many unique sports and racing cars through his Speedcraft Enterprises, he was an active racer, and his is one of the first few plaques engraved in the “Walk of Fame” sidewalk, starting at the courthouse, which was the Start/Finish line for the race at the Glen. I established a contact with Otto and Roger which I have maintained to this day, and have learned much about the early history of the Siata through contact with them. If you scroll down the following link, there is a picture of his “Orchedea” special, which was the test bed for what became the 300BC Siata, next to my car in a garage at Sebring after Otto had lost his motor in practice. Behind my car stands Tom Scatchard and his wife.http://www.speedcraftspecial.com/wpperfect/category/otto-linton/.

Also, another fellow, perhaps a few years younger than me, came up and said he was a pro photographer and thought he might have a picture of my car racing on the street, and if so would I like a copy. Are you kidding? For $10 or so Alan Isslehardt later shipped me this print, which is one of very few period photos of the car I have ever found.

September 1952
Tom Scatchard, Pilot
At the end of Franklin Street
Just before making the right to head uphill

“Compensation” number 3 was the course “tour” itself...a fairly wild and fun ride. In many ways it was just like movies of the original races looked...hay bales along turns, folks out in lawn chairs or sitting on the fenders of cars in their yards watching the cars go by. The tour started and ended from the display on Franklin Street, then made a right just past the entrance to the Glen state park to go uphill. After winding up and around the outskirts of what is still, today, a small village, it then runs downhill along he side of Seneca Lake back to town. At the bottom of the hill you make a sharp left followed immediately by another 90 degree turn to bring you back onto Franklin. You can trace the route on the map shown in “The Long and Winding Road,” and there is a video here which shows some of the action from the 1952 race, including many clips of my car out in the countryside (note the yellow #52...I never knew the number was not white until I found this film).https://vimeo.com/145458319

The tour was at an enthusiastic clip...I'm not used to driving the Siata without a helmet, but I would guess we were hitting speeds exceeding 75, which is pretty fast considering all the obstructions and spectators. It got really hairy coming back downhill along the lake. As I came screaming in I became intensely aware that the sweeping straight I was on ended at...a four story brick building!

There was only a stack of hay bales in front of the building, at the edge of the sidewalk, behind which was a good-sized group of spectators. It really did cross my mind that if my brakes failed I could wind up wiping out a good part of the population of Watkins Glen. But they worked just find, I hurled into the left hander...to immediately face another stack of hay bales and spectators. A wrench of the wheel to the right and they disappeared in a flash of color, to do it again.

Given the historic tie of my car to this town and event, it remains one of the great highlights of my stewardship of the car.